Traditionally, radio, television, and movie screens have been the primary media of entertainment. Today, people are entertained by watching content, such as movies, on a variety of devices. A single person can watch a movie on a television, standard or high-density, portable DVD player, video iPod®, mobile telephone, computer, etc. Each of these devices use different formats due to having different number of lines per screen, different communications protocols, different storage technology, different compression schemes, and so forth.
To accommodate the different forms of media, service providers and equipment manufacturers have developed a variety of hardware and network configurations. FIG. 1 is an illustration of an exemplary basic video on-demand (VOD) network architecture 100. The architecture 100 includes a video on-demand server 102 and middleware server 104. The video on-demand server 102 and middleware server 104 communicate with a set top box 106 that interfaces with a television 108 and remote control 110 within a consumers household 112. Communications between the video on-demand server 102, middleware server 104, and set top box 106 may be performed over a wireline network 112. In operation, a consumer may view a program guide on the television 108. The program guide is generated by the middleware 104 and communicated to the set top box 106. If a consumer decides to change the channel or select a movie for play, the consumer uses the remote control 110 to interface with the set top box 106, which, in turn, communicates the request via the network 112 to the middleware server 104 as indicated by the dashed line 114. The middleware server 104, in turn, communicates the request to the video on-demand server 102. The video on-demand server accesses and communicates a video stream 116 via the network 112 to the set top box 106 for play on the television 108.
FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary system 200 with a conventional configuration of a video on-demand server system 202. The video on-demand server system 202 generally includes a satellite dish 204 that is used to receive content from a content (e.g., video and/or audio) provider via a satellite link A satellite receiver 206 is in communication with the satellite dish 204 to receive content signals 207, which may be analog or digital. A video encoder 208 may be used to encode received content signals 210 to produce encoded content signals 212. As understood in the art, the video encoder 208 may be utilized, if needed, to convert the received content signals 210, if in an analog format, into digital signals 212 and may encode the received content signals 210 to have a particular format and compression scheme. In general, conventional video on-demand server systems 202 are used to produce formats for standard televisions. Some newer video on-demand service systems 202 format video signals to be available for high-density television (HDTV).
A video on-demand server 102 is in communication with the video encoder 208 and configured to receive the digital signals 212 for storage by the video on-demand server 102. The content, represented as digital encoded content signals 212, are stored as video content files 214 on a storage unit (not shown) and within a database (not shown) for later access by a consumer for selection to play on his or her television 108. The middleware server 104 may be in communication with the video on-demand server 102 to enable a consumer using the remote control 110 to interact with the middleware server 104 via the set top box 106 and over the network 112 and access content stored on the video on-demand server 102. The middleware server 104 maybe configured to access the video content files 214 managed by the video on-demand server 102 to present titles and other information associated with the video content file 214 to the consumer for selection thereof.
As understood in the art, the set top box 106 supports the software capabilities for interacting with middleware or software executed by the middleware server 104. The set top box 106 enables the consumer to interact with the software on the set top box 106 and, in turn, the middleware executed by the middleware server 104 via the remote control 110. This software interaction enables the consumer to interact with an enhanced program guide (EPG) to view titles of content (e.g., movies, programs, sporting events, etc.) and other information about the content stored in the video content files 214. In addition, as understood in the art, the enhanced program guide enables consumers to change channels, make purchases, and perform other functions. In addition, the enhanced program guide managed by the middleware server 104 enables consumers to select video content files 214 that have prices associated for downloading and watching the content and bill the consumer for watching select content in accordance with the associated prices.
As described above, consumers are using many different devices for their entertainment. The configuration of conventional video on-demand server system 202 is limited to servicing consumers using televisions connected to set top boxes. Other service providers, such as telecommunications service providers, have developed other video on-demand server systems 202 in order to communicate content, such as television programs, delayed live-feeds of television stations (e.g., Fox news channel), and other video entertainment, to wireless devices. In these configurations, the video encoders are configured to format the video content for the particular devices (e.g., mobile telephones) that are being serviced in a similar manner and configuration as that shown in FIG. 2 to service televisions. Of course, each of these video on-demand service systems are expensive to install and manage.